His Now
by Morivanim
Summary: James' ex comes back into his life, as someone else's girl. All he wants is to be happy for her, but the guys just won't let it go.  rating for later content
1. Chapter 1

A/N:This is my first BTR fic and it's something I'm writing pretty quickly so sorry if it's not the best written thing in the world

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><p>"Okay this is just getting sad."<br>"What's getting sad?" Kendall asked, looking up from his hockey magazine and acknowledging the girl who had just sat down next to him.  
>"That" Camille said pointing across the pool to James, who sat flirting with one of the newer residents of the Palmwoods.<br>"How is James flirting with the new girl sad?" Kendall asked.

"Didn't he just go on a date with Michelle last night?" Camille asked back.

"Yeah and?"

"Annndd… he went out with Rebecca before that, Jessica, before that, Misty, before that, Elizabeth before that…"

"What's your point?" Kendall interrupted, putting his magazine down completely and turning to face Camille.

"My point is that James goes on dates all the time, but when's the last time he's ever actually

dated a girl? It's sad how incapable James is of having a real relationship."

"Okay first, he's having fun. Let him. Second, no meddling and trying to fix him," Kendall stopped to give Camille a pointed look, which she momentarily looked, offended by before giving in, raising her hands up in defeat, and leaning back on her lounge chair. "And finally, James is plenty capable of having a real relationship." Finishing his statement Kendall retook the lounging position he had previously vacated.  
>Camille humphed, "Yeah right, James has never had a real girlfriend."<br>"Sure he has," a third voice chimed in. Logan sat down next to Camille handing her a smoothie, and taking a sip from his own, "Anna."

"Who's Anna?" Camille asked, looking back and forth from Logan to Kendall.

"Shhhh!" Kendall shushed the other two.

Logan rolled his eyes at Kendall, "She's this girl James dated freshman year,"

"Who we don't talk about!" Kendall hissed at Logan, glancing over to make sure James couldn't hear them.  
>"Why not?" Camille asked, again looking back and forth between the two boys.<p>

Logan again ignored Kendall's "shut up" looks and continued talking, "It was kind of hard for James when it ended."

"Hard? It nearly killed him." Kendall said still checking to see if James was listening, "And if we are really going to talk about this can we at least go somewhere a little more private?"

Logan rolled his eyes, but Camille was interested and quickly nodded. The three of them quickly made their way inside and up to apartment 2J where Kendall, after locking the door finally allowed the conversation to continue.

"So what exactly happened?" Camille asked when Kendall gave the all clear.

"Anna and her family moved to Minnesota the summer before freshman year, her brother was on the hockey team so she was around a lot. She and James ended up hitting it off and eventually started dating. James was the happiest I have ever seen him." Kendall said. Camille looked over to Logan who nodded. "They dated for almost a year, but a couple of weeks before their anniversary, Anna moved away, and they broke up. James was destroyed."

"Destroyed?" Even for Camille the word seemed over dramatic.

"It's true, he didn't shower, barely ate, stopped playing hockey, and for an entire month he wore nothing but sweatpants and never combed his hair. He actually threw out his lucky comb, went diving through dumpsters for it after a day but still..."

Camille's eyes widened and she had to forcibly keep her jaw from dropping. "Wow".

"Yeah. So you can see why we don't talk about her." Kendall said giving a look to Logan.

"Come on that was two years ago, he's got to be over it by now." Logan said in defense of himself.

"You want to take that chance?" Kendall asked.

Logan tried to hold his ground but the more he thought about it he really didn't. "No." he finally admitted.

"Okay then, no more mentioning Anna?" Kendall asked for confirmation from both Camille and Logan. Both nodded their affirmation. "Good now I'm going back to the pool." He said before turning and doing just that.

Logan and Camille sat alone for a few minutes before Camille finally broke the silence. "Was it really that bad?" she had to ask.

Logan wanted to tell her no, that Kendall was just being overdramatic, but thinking back, it really had been. "It was his first break up, and he really liked her." Was all he could think to say.

Camille was silent for a moment before shrugging. "You want to go see a movie?" she asked.

Logan smiled. "Sure"


	2. Chapter 2

A couple of weeks later all four of the guys were crammed into the sound booth at their studio, and had been for hours, and were all starting to get a little annoyed.

"I swear if your elbow hits me again I am going to rip it off!" James yelled at Carlos.

"Well if you would keep to your side maybe you wouldn't keep running into my elbow." Carlos yelled back, staring right at James. James could feel his arm winding back, getting ready to punch that obnoxious smile right off of Carlos' face when Gustavo's voice broke through.

"All of you calm down now! Go take a break and cool off!"

Immediately calming at the idea of a break and not having to be squished up next to anyone anymore James lowered his arm and looked away from Carlos. As he did he noticed Kendall letting Logan out of headlock so that he could reach the door.

As soon as they were all out of the tiny space they all breathed a collective sigh of relief and took a few extra steps away from each other.

"I'm getting a drink." James informed them as he made his way out, down to the kitchen.

James opened the fridge and got a bottle of water, taking a well needed gulp before leaning on the counter, shutting his eyes and just enjoying being alone, something that did not happen very often. It was short lived however when another body appeared to occupy the space.

"Long day?" the voice asked with a small laugh.

James opened his eyes and saw Dak grabbing another water bottle out of the fridge, "I've just spent the last 5 hours shoved into a tiny booth with three other guys, yes it's been long."

The other boy laughed. "Man that sucks."

"You have no idea, Dak." James told him.  
>"Yeah well it's still probably more fun than doing it on your own all the time."<p>

James raised an eyebrow at Dak for a second. "Yeah probably, but I wouldn't mind a solo or two now and then."

"Maybe you could do some of mine for me" Dak said jokingly.

"Dude I would, anytime!" James told him. Dak laughed and took a drink from his bottle.

The two sat drinking in silence for a moment before Dak's face took on a thoughtful look. "You know my producer just gave me this great song, we're just looking for someone to collaborate with. Think you guys might be interested?"

James's eyebrows shot up and his jaw dropped. "Seriously?" He asked when he regained the ability to speak.

"Yeah. I really like your music and you did a great job with Jordin Sparks. If you think the others would be up to it I'll have my guy contact your guy."

"Yeah! That would be amazing!" James answered immediately, resisting the urge to jump up and down. Working with Dak Zevon would shoot them up the charts. They would be more popular than they had ever imagined.

"Awesome. I'll go talk to Jim right now. Look forward to working with you." Dak said before giving a wave and leaving the kitchen.

James waved back, still in a daze. He was still waving for a few minutes after Dak left, but once he stopped and it sunk in what had happened and what would happen, he whooped loudly and ran from the kitchen back into the studio.

"Guys! Guys! Guys!" James yelled entering the room.

"What?" Gustavo yelled, to get James to stop shouting.

"Dak just asked if we'd do a song with him!" James shouted.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth the other three boys jumped up from where they were splayed out around the room. A chorus of "No way", "Yes" and "I don't believe it" sounded out.

The excitement of the news made the next six hours of Gustavo's yelling and their confining quarters a bit more bearable.


	3. Chapter 3

It took a couple of weeks for everything to be arranged between Gustavo and Dak's producer Jim, but soon enough the boys were all sitting by the pool looking over lyric sheets, well most of them were. While Carlos, Logan and Kendall were committing words to memory James was bragging to the Jennifers about their soon to be recorded song.

After being brushed off with the condition that once the song hit number one he would be allowed to again talk to the girls, James went back to his friends.

"Ahh boys, this is it, the beginning of the big time. After this song hits number one the Jennifers and every other girl in the world won't be able to keep their hands off of us." James said lounging back in his chair.

"Well that all depends on being able to record it." Kendall said, thumping James on the chest with his lyrics sheet.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," James said before finally settling down and at least looking at the words in front of him.

The next morning was the first time in history that James Diamond was the first one of the group to be up and ready to go. For their first day of recording they had arrived at the studio early and left late. Working with Dak was the turning out to be great. Though they had known Dak for a while this was the first time they had really spent enough time with him that they could really get to know him, and as a result all five boys were fast friends.

They had a full week to work on their song together and by Wednesday they were already thinking about adding another song.

"It could be like a boys night out song"

"Yeah, real up beat."

"Ohh like a dance song?"

"Yeah! What do you think Dak?" Logan asked turning to the only boy who had yet to contribute.

Dak's head snapped up from its position staring at the phone in his lap, at Logan's voice. "Huh, oh yeah sounds great." He looked back down quickly then put his phone away. "I was thinking maybe a faster song for our next one."

"Good to see we're on the same page." Kendall said laughing a little.

"Huh?" Dak asked.

"We've already established that idea." Logan informed the confused looking pop singer.

"Oh sorry. I'm a little distracted."

"We can tell." James said.

"Yeah my girlfriend just got back from a trip and we're trying to figure out how to meet up." He told them.

"You have a girlfriend?" Carlos asked as all four boys gave questioning looks to Dak.

"Yeah."

"Why haven't we heard anything about her?" Kendall asked.

"Yeah, you didn't mention her in your last interview." James said motioning to a Pop Tiger on a table nearby.

"We've been keeping it pretty low key. She's not in the industry so it's pretty easy to sneak her around." Dak said with a shrug.

"Wow. So what's her name?" Carlos asked.

"Annabel." Dak said with a smile. "We've been together for about 3 months now. I can't wait to see her again" He continued answering the unasked question.

"If she's so easy to sneak around, why not have her come here?" James asked.

"You guys would be okay with that?" Dak asked. He was met with a chorus of affirmative answers. "Okay." He said before pulling out his phone and sending a message before they got back to work on their current and future plans.

About a half hour later a knock on the door stopped their progress on their recordings.

"Mr. Zevon, your girlfriend is here."

"Awesome. I'll be right back guys." Dak said before rushing out of the room.

"Wonder what she's like." Logan thought out loud.

"Hot, obviously." James said with a smirk, earning himself a roll of the eyes from the other three.

The door opened again and Dak walked in his arm around a girl a little shorter than himself. She had long wavy brown hair in a braid, and matching dark brown eyes. "Guys this is, my girlfriend…"

"Anna?"


	4. Chapter 4

It was Carlos who had spoken, the other boys in too much shock to say anything.

"Carlos? Logan? Oh my God guys!" Anna exclaimed pulling herself out Dak's arms and walking over to Kendall, giving him a big hug.

"You guys know each other?" Dak asked, looking confused.

Anna let go of Kendall and moved onto Logan.

"Um, yeah." James said watching as Anna moved from Logan to Carlos who was nearly bouncing out of his skin, excited to see his old friend.

"How?" Dak asked.

Anna paused in her hug line. "My dad was stationed in Minnesota a couple of year ago." She told Dak before turning back to the final member of Big Time Rush. "Hi James." She said it softly and moved her arms only a little, as if asking for permission to hug him.

The movement brought James out of his stupor. "Hi Anna" he replied and leaned down and gave her a hug. As they hugged the smell of her shampoo wafted into his nose and instantly his mind conjured sunshine and snow and wild flowers. He pulled back ignoring everything that had just passed through his head. "It's good to see you."

"You too." She said, before stepping back.

"Small world." Dak commented before walking up and putting his arm around Anna.

"You have no idea." Logan said, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Kendall.

"You guys mind taking a break?" Dak asked.

"Not at all." Kendall answered for everyone.

"Great. I want to hear all about your trip." Dak said addressing the last statement directly to Anna.

Anna smiled. "Okay but first I have to know what's happened with you guys. Last I saw you guys you were all still skating around destroying the mid-west."

"It's kind of a long story." Logan said.

"We've got time, right Dak?" Anna said.

"Sure." Dak told her with a smile.

They all sat down and Carlos began telling Anna everything that had happened since they had last seen each other.

While Carlos told their story with Kendall and Logan pitching in as well, James stayed mostly silent. Anna seemed completely immersed in what the other three were saying but James could tell by the bounce in her knee that she wasn't all there in the conversation. She was clearly looking at all of the members of Big Time Rush except for him. It was killing him, but even more than that, her being here was killing him. She wasn't supposed to be here, they were never supposed to see each other again, that was the plan and as much as it sucked, it had been working. He wasn't prepared to see her again, and he had no idea what to do about it.  
>It would have been one thing if they had run into each other on the street or were seated next to each other on a flight, but sitting and talking while she sat comfortably with Dak Zevon's arm around her, the fingers on their free hands intertwined? The whole thing was, normal, and not okay. James didn't know what to do so he sat there, nearly silent, chiming in only when absolutely necessary.<p>

Once their story was done it was Anna's turn.

"So what have you been up to?" Logan asked.

"Not nearly as much." Anna told him. "My Dad got stationed out here after Minnesota, so I've been living here the past two years. I go to a public High School; I've got a job tutoring at the elementary school by my house. Oh and I took up surfing! I actually just got back from a surf trip. Mom took me and Bennett to Hawaii for a few days."

"That's so cool!" Carlos shouted.

"Yeah, gotta love Spring break."

"How is Bennett?" Logan asked.

"He's great. Still playing hockey. He's gonna be so stoked to hear you guys are here."

Anna was doing everything in her power to keep from freaking out. She was glad to see the boys again, of course she was, but seeing James was too much. And Dak holding her was not helping. James looked great. He was more muscular than he had been two years ago; he was a little taller too. His eyes still sparkled and his smile still lit up the room. When she had entered the room and looked up her eyes had gone straight to him, exactly the way they had that first day she had gone with her mom to pick Bennett up from hockey practice back in Minnesota. James had been in the lobby waiting for his ride, sweaty from practice, half his gear on the other half sitting in the bag at his feet, he was gorgeous. She had started hanging around the rink just to get a glance of him, right now though she was doing everything she could not to look at him.

Dak's hand moved along her arm and she moved her eyes even further in the opposite direction of where James was seated. Anna was pretty sure that if it wasn't for Dak being there things would have been a lot less awkward. James was the one that got away and right now all Dak was doing was shoving a brand new knife into the newly reopened wound.  
>They talked for a while longer before the boys were called back in for recording, and she had to leave. They all got up to leave, Dak kissing her on the cheek and promising that they'd be done soon, so that the two of them could spend some time together. Anna smiled and agreed, but for the first time in their relationship she was hoping he wouldn't have time for her.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Because Robin-n-Hoodie asked so nicely here's another chapter :)

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><p>The entire ride back from the studio Kendall and Logan had been watching him. It was really starting to piss him off. The only thing keeping him from exploding was Carlos, who was the only one acting normally.<p>

James finally broke during dinner. Mrs. Knight had been trying to get them all to talk but Logan and Kendall were only answering in short sentences, still watching his every move.

"Guys, I'm fine." He said, putting his fork down, a bit more forcefully than needed.

"Are you sure?" Kendall asked.

James sighed, "Yes".

"Why wouldn't James be fine?" Mrs. Knight asked.

Kendall and Logan looked at each other still wary of bringing up what had happened earlier. Carlos tried to say it, but his mouth was too full of food to be understood, so James sighed one more time and spoke. "We ran into Anna today at the studio."

"Anna, Anna who?" Mrs. Knight asked.

"Anna Lincoln"

"Wait, your ex-girlfriend, Anna?"

"Yeah, well now she's Dak Zevon's girlfriend." James told her.

"Oh honey…" Mrs. Knight said getting that 'you poor baby' look on her face. Mrs. Knight had seen what James had gone through when they broke up, knew just how hard it had all been for him.

"Yeah, and it's fine. Really, we broke up two years ago, I'm okay." There were a few tense moments where no one said anything, they just stared at him. James rolled his eyes and picked up his plate. Putting away his dishes he walked into his room, away from the stares.

When he was finally alone James flopped back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. The truth was, James was okay, at least mostly. It had been two years since their break up, James had seen plenty of girls since then, and honestly hadn't thought much about Anna since he had finally gotten over the break up, but then she showed up again.

He had recognized Anna the second she had walked through the door, and he had been so happy. For one fleeting moment he had thought that maybe he was dreaming. He had selfishly thought that she was back for him, but then he saw Dak's arm around her waist and remembered that Dak had left to get his girlfriend. It took until she was hugging Carlos that it clicked, she wasn't here for him, it was an accident that they were seeing each other, she was there with Dak, she was his now.

Why he had thought that she might be back for him he didn't know. They were never getting back together even if she had walked in alone. He replayed their final conversation over in his head, he still had it memorized word for word, hearing it again calmed him, made it okay that she existed outside of his life, that she had moved on.

The door closing brought James back to the present. He lifted his head to see Carlos walk in and sit down on the edge of his own bed. James sat up and faced Carlos. The two entered into a small staring contest.

"I'm fine" James said, ending the contest.

"You sure?" Carlos asked.

"Yes."

Carlos stared at James for a little longer, "Okay, but if you're ever not, we're here."

"Thanks, but you know you didn't seem all that concerned earlier." James told him, after all Carlos had been the only one not tiptoeing around James all day.

"What? You wanted me to make it more awkward?" Carlos asked.

"That is normally your thing." James stated.

Carlos threw a pillow at James, hitting him square in the face, before running from the room before James could retaliate. Quickly James recovered from the hit and was hot on Carlos' heels.

Later that night Anna was at Dak's house sitting on the couch watching a movie. The movie had finally managed to get her mind off of that afternoon. Things were finally back to normal where she was alone with her boyfriend, happy and enjoying some of their stolen moments. However Dak did not always have the best timing and decided that exactly 2.3 minutes after Anna had stopped thinking about the boys from Big Time Rush was the perfect time to bring them up.

"I still can't believe you know the guys." Dak said cuddling closer into her.

"Yeah, small world huh?" Anna replied, hoping that would be the end of the conversation.

"How'd you all meet?"

"Bennett was on the school's hockey team with them."

"Oh so they were Bennett's friends?" This time the question didn't sound as innocent as the others did.

Anna moved so that she could see Dak's face. "We were both friends with them." She told him.

"Yeah but they were Bennett's friends first right?" Seeing Dak's face Anna could tell that the questions were not innocent. Dak was looking for something.

"I guess. Dak what do you want to know?" she asked, taking herself out of his arms.

"Nothing." Dak said, Anna staring at him. She didn't blink. Dak gave in. "Okay I might be wondering about the exact nature of your friendship." He admitted.

Anna bit her bottom lip; she really hoped that she wouldn't have to say anything about it to Dak. She honestly didn't think he would have noticed anything, and that the past could just be left there, but she wasn't about to lie to Dak, and he had asked outright.

"James and I used to date." It was clear from Dak's expression that he had not been expecting that answer.

"Really?" Dak asked.

"Yeah."

There was a pause before Dak spoke again. "Did you date any of the others?"

Anna laughed, "No, just James."

"Okay."

"Okay? You're good with this?" Anna asked.

"Well you guys ended okay right?"

"Yeah." Anna told him.

"Then yeah, I'm good with it." Dak said, shrugging his shoulders.

Anna smiled. "You're amazing you know that?" Dak shrugged again, and Anna leant in and kissed him, before taking her previous position in Dak's arms. They went back to watching their movie in silence.

"I'm a better kisser than James, right?" Dak asked jokingly.

Anna laughed and smacked Dak on the leg. "Shut up and watch the movie."


	6. Chapter 6

The next day Dak had asked Anna to come back to the studio, since she still had a few days off for Spring Break. She was hesitant at first, but when he also asked that Bennett be there Anna knew she couldn't say no, he had been extremely excited to hear that the boys were in LA. So early the next morning Anna and Bennett snuck into Rocque Records.

Bennett hadn't been to Rocque Records before so naturally Dak offered to take him on a tour. Anna, who had already been to Rocque on multiple occasions lasted for a good half hour of the tour before being taken over by boredom and excusing herself.

She had intended on grabbing a water bottle from the kitchen, but she was stopped in her path. Just outside of the kitchen stood James, talking on the phone. Anna figured since he was occupied she might just be able to sneak around him without being seen, but it was not to be.

"Bye mom, love you too." James said before hanging up the phone. He looked up and Anna froze.

Anna was acutely aware of the fact that she and James were very much alone. She was also acutely aware of the way James' hair fell to just above his eyes, and how he brushed it back in nervousness. "Hey." James said, breaking some of the tension in the air.

"Hey." The tension quickly came back as silence fell. "Well this is awkward."

James laughed "Yeah, it is.

"It shouldn't be though, right?" Anna asked.

"No it shouldn't. I mean we planned for this."

"I know right?"

This time the silence was only a brief one. "You know, it makes me feel a lot better that you're just as uncomfortable as I am."

"Me too."

Both laughed, half out of discomfort and half out of relief. The laughter soon lost its discomfort and by the time it ended it was as if nothing had ever been wrong or strange between the two of them.

"So, you and Dak?" James asked when the laughter died down.

"Yup, me and Dak."

"How'd you two meet?" James asked moving to a couch along the wall.

Anna sat down on the other end of the couch. "My friend Becky's dad runs the convention center down town, and he got up VIP tickets to meet Dak after one of his performances."

"Cool."

"Yeah, he asked me for my number, but I never actually expected him to call."

"Well I'm glad you're happy." James said.

"You too. You're finally gonna be a pop star. You've got to be so excited."

"Yeah, it's been a crazy ride."

They were finally talking, and it was comfortable. They were talking just like old times and Anna had nearly forgotten where they were and why they were there, when Bennett's voice broke in.

"James!"

James' head turned when he heard his name, and he saw Bennett and Dak coming towards him. "Hey man." James greeted Bennett, standing up.

"How've you been?" Bennett asked, the two boys hugging briefly.

"Good, you?"

"Good. How're the other guys?"

"They're good. They're actually just in the studio now."

"Awesome. Let's go see them." James guided Bennett into the studio where he happily greeted the others.

James had watched Dak put his arm around Anna's waist while he had gone to greet Bennett, and a nagging pain shot through his stomach. While they had been talking on the couch, it had been like no time had passed at all, as if they were back in Minnesota sitting on his mom's couch talking until the sun came up, but Dak's appearance had abruptly ended that fantasy.

Soon after the guys all caught up with Bennett they were ordered into the studio for recordings. This time Anna and Bennett, were both allowed to stay and hear the new song.

Anna and Bennett were standing, silently listening to all 5 boys singing. They were good. Anna had always known James could sing, he often serenaded her when they were dating, but she was surprised to find that Carlos, Logan and Kendall could all hold their own as well.

"You okay?" Bennett leaned in and whispered to her.

"Yeah I'm okay." She said glancing over at him. She could feel the look Bennett was giving her, and looked back at him. "We're okay." She said.

"You sure, because if you're not I can always kick his ass."

Anna smiled and shook her head. "Thanks but it's okay." They went back to silently listening.

Anna glanced back over at Bennett one more time, she was so thankful she had her older brother.


	7. Chapter 7

Thursday had been pretty good. There had of course been some initial awkwardness, with all seven of them being in the same place, but with Anna and James, clearly getting along, everyone was quickly able to relax and get along again, at least, mostly. James couldn't help it, everything Dak did rubbed him the wrong way, and he found himself having to restrain himself from snapping at the teen idol. He could feel himself getting more and more agitated each time the singer said something to him, or commented on their work. It was getting to the point of too much when they finished up and Anna praised Dak before the rest of them, but thankfully he managed to make it out the door without doing anything stupid.

When they got back to the Palmwoods James separated from the rest of the group, who went upstairs, and went straight to the pool. He needed a few moments to clear his head. He sat on the edge of the pool, just staring into the water.

He had been staring so intently that he didn't notice Kendall sit down next to him. "Hey." James greeted when he finally noticed Kendall.  
>"Hey. What's up?"<br>"Nothing." James said, kicking his feet back and forth.  
>They sat in silence for a moment. "You know it's okay to not be okay." Kendall finally said.<br>"No it's not. " Kendall went to disagree but James stopped him. "I've known Anna's been in LA the whole time."

"What?"

"I knew Anna was here in LA."

"How, Anna didn't know where she was moving to until she left."  
>"Yeah, she lied about that." James told him.<p>

"Why?"

"Made it easier I guess."

"Oh, but if you knew then why didn't you try and find her when we got here?" Kendall asked.

"Wouldn't have made a difference."

"But you broke us because she moved. I mean if Jo was back in LA I'd be running to get her back." Kendall told him.  
>James sighed, "It wasn't like with you and Jo, we didn't just break up because she was moving."<br>"What do you mean?"

"When Anna found out she was moving to LA, we had planned on staying together, doing long distance. I mean It would only be a couple of years and I'd have been moving out here to try and do all of this anyway. She was going to go to a college in the area, I was going to get a record deal and we were going to move in together. I'd get famous and we'd be this crazy Hollywood fairytale." James had never told any of this to anyone. He had never really talked about his break up with Anna at all. But now that he had started, he found he couldn't stop. "We started talking about it, how she'd come on tour with me in the summer, we'd be in all the magazines, when she started teaching her students would go crazy about her, because she'd be famous too, but, she started, kinda freaking out about it. Saying she didn't want that, that she wanted a normal life. Being on magazine covers and having paparazzi follow her, the thought freaked her out. We started talking about what we wanted in life and it just, didn't match up. We figured it would be best to end it before we started falling apart, that way when we ran into each other here in LA we could, be friends."

"Wow I…I didn't know."

"Yeah."

"So then it's like really over between you two."

"Yeah."

Kendall didn't know what to say. Some part of him had always believed that if James and Anna had ever found their way back to each other that they would get back together. Knowing that it had been a permanent break up, it changed things.

"Your mom's probably got dinner ready by now." James said, getting up. "You coming?"  
>Kendall looked up, "In a second." He watched as James walked away.<p>

Kendall felt awful. James had really been head over heels for Anna, and when they broke up Kendall had comforted James by saying that it wasn't forever, that one day they'd meet up again and fate would step in. It was the same thing James had repeated to him when Jo had left. James had never once mentioned that it was forever, that they were over for good, because James was made to be famous, and Anna didn't want to be with someone famous.

Anna didn't want to be with someone famous. As Kendall thought it, he realized something was wrong with that statement. It didn't make sense. Suddenly it hit him. It didn't make sense because of Dak. Anna didn't want someone famous, but she was dating the most famous teen in Hollywood.

Kendall was confused, why would she be dating Dak if she didn't want someone famous? Maybe she had changed her mind? And if that was the case, then maybe there was a chance that it didn't have to be over for her and James. If Anna was willing to date Dak Zevon, who was at least ten times as famous as they were, dating James wouldn't be nearly as intimidating. Kendall shot up and ran to go tell James. He got all the way into the elevator before noting the one bit of logic that stood in his way. Anna was happily dating Dak, and from what they'd seen it didn't look like it was going to end any time soon.

Kendall stepped out of the elevator feeling even worse than he had before. He walked into the apartment and saw James and Carlos smiling, laughing and playing video games. He was amazed at how well James was handling everything, Kendall would have been in pieces if it were him.

"There you are." His mom broke through his thoughts, "Just in time to help me set the table."

Kendall smiled and went to help his mom. At least there was one person he could help.


	8. Chapter 8

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Anna was doubled over laughing as Bennett danced around the room, pretending to play the guitar to the play back of the boys' new track.

"Man, Bennett maybe you should quit hockey for a boy band." Dak said between bouts of laughter.

"Oh you know it!" Bennett told him, smiling broadly as the track came to an end. "Seriously though, it's good guys."

"Yeah it didn't turn out half bad did it?" James commented.

"Half bad? It was great. James your verse, practically made me want to cry." Anna said, "And Carlos, when did you learn to sing like that?"

It was the end of the day Friday, and they were officially finished recording their new song. They were currently sitting around the studio all waiting for their respective rides. Anna and Dak were cuddling on the couch, Kendall and Logan were playing fosse ball, and Carlos, James and now Bennett were lounging on bean bag chairs.

"This song is pretty great, but our next one's going to be even better." Dak said giving a small kiss to the top of Anna's head. She really wished he wouldn't do that. Dak had been overly touchy-feely with her ever since she had told him about having dated James. She knew it was some kind of territory marking thing, but it was really starting to get annoying. But, she put up with it because she didn't want him to think that James was a threat. She really wanted them all to get along; she hadn't realized how much she had missed them all.

"Knock, Knock." Everyone's eyes turned to the door where Mrs. Knight was poking her head in.

"Mrs. Knight!" Bennett shouted as she made her way completely into the room. Bennett got up and went to get a hug.

"Hi Bennett." Mrs. Knight laughed hugging the teen back. "Anna it's good to see you."

"You too Mrs. Knight." Anna said getting up much more slowly than her brother did to get her hug.

"You just missed the song debut, Mom" Kendall said.

"Oh darn. Well maybe you can all sing it for me over dinner."

"Anything for you Mama Knight." Carlos said with a smile.

"Great. Well we better get back home; it is after all fish stick Friday."

"Oh man you guys still have fish stick Friday? I haven't had fish sticks in forever." Bennett complained.

"Well, you're welcome to join us. You too Anna, and Dak." Mrs. Knight said.

"Thanks Mrs. Knight, but I've got to go to the new Ken Rancher movie premiere tonight" Dak said with a shrug.

"And Bennett's car is in the shop so, our mom's on the way to get us" Anna said quickly.

"Oh that's a shame. How is your mom by the way?" Mrs. Knight asked.

"Good."

"You know, we really should all get together sometime soon." Kendall wanted to glare at his mom, but she really wasn't doing anything wrong. She had asked to be updated on the Anna and James situation, and she had been. As far as everyone knew James and Anna were completely okay, and James kept saying that he was fine, but Kendall had seen him at the pool that night, and just couldn't believe he was as okay as he acted like he was.

"That would be awesome" Bennett had answered.

"Well why don't I get your mom's number, and we can try to set something up?" Mrs. Knight asked.

"Sure." Bennett gladly gave Mrs. Knight his mom's number and soon after the boys were on their way out.

Later that night Anna sat in front of the TV watching the red carpet interviews, waiting for Dak's appearance.

"How come he doesn't ever ask you to go to these things with him?"

Anna put her head back to look at Bennett as he leaned over the couch. "Because I wouldn't go." She answered.

Bennett hopped over the couch to sit next to his sister. "What's the point of going out with a celebrity if you don't get to go to any of the cool events?"

"I don't want to go to any of the events."

"Pft, whatever. Oh look there's lover boy now."

They both turned their attention to the interview going on.

"_Now Dak, we see you're here alone tonight. How is this possible?" The interviewer asked._

_Dak rubbed the back of his neck. "You know I've been working really hard, that doesn't leave a whole lot of time to find a date."_

"Pft, he could easily have a date." Bennett said.

"Shut up." Anna shoved him.

"What? He doesn't even acknowledge that he's dating you!"

"We have been over this!"

"And I still don't get it."

"I like Dak. I like being with Dak but I don't want to have the paparazzi invading my life, and the only way to do that is to hide the whole relationship thing."

Bennett rolled his eyes. "So what happens when you two want to get married? Have babies? How do you plan on keeping that a secret?"

"That's a little far off into the future don't you think?"

"Whatever." Bennett said rolling his eyes again. "By the way Mom talked to Mrs. Knight a little while ago. We're now having a barbeque Sunday; you're supposed to invite Dak too."

"Kay." Anna said staring back at the TV. She didn't say another word to Bennett. For three month's he'd been giving her the same speech, and she was really getting sick of it. She didn't care if Bennett understood it or not, she was having a low key relationship with a big name celebrity, it wasn't going to make sense to everyone. Hell it barely made sense to her at some points she watched Dak walk out of the camera's view and pulled out her phone. She knew he wouldn't get the message for a while, but she sent one anyway.


	9. Chapter 9

Saturday came and went and soon the boys found themselves on a tour of the Lincoln's new home.

"This is our master bed room, and just over there is Bennett's room and Anna's room is right next to the bathroom." Mrs. Lincoln said, pointing out each room.

"Your house is lovely, Mrs. Lincoln" Logan complimented.

"Thank you Logan." Mrs. Lincoln smiled. "Why don't you kids go outside and rescue my kids. I'm sure their dad is driving them crazy by now."

The boys and Katie gladly ran down the stairs and outside, leaving the moms to catch up.

"Hey guy!" Bennett called out once he saw the group appear. "Oh man, is that little Katie?"

They all said their hellos to Bennett, Anna and Mr. Lincoln, and afterward Anna and Bennett took the opportunity to escape their dad's grilling tyranny. Although Katie stayed behind, helping Mr. Lincoln create the perfect burger.

"Thank God you guys showed up. He's driving us crazy, barking out orders like he's at work." Anna complained.

"Well glad we could help." Kendall said.

"Anyone up for some Frisbee?" Bennett asked. Everyone quickly agreed.

They played until Katie and Mr. Lincoln announced that the food was ready. They all sat around the picnic table and ate and caught up. Everything was going really well, it was just like back in Minnesota, only a whole lot warmer.  
>After three cups of lemonade, James excused himself and went inside to use the facilities.<p>

It was only after James excused himself that Mrs. Knight allowed herself to ask the question she had been dying to ask since they had arrived. "So, Anna, Dak couldn't make it tonight?" she asked.

"No, he had a photo shoot." Anna said, kicking Bennett under the table as he made a face at her.  
>"Oh, that's a shame."<p>

"Yeah." Anna said, shoveling some food in her mouth to keep from having to continue this particular line of conversation.

Kendall noticed both the wince on Bennett's face from Anna's swift kick and her unwillingness to talk about Dak. He made a mental note to ask Bennett about it later.

********  
>James had not been the first to need the restroom so when he went into the house he found the first floor bathroom already occupied, so he went upstairs to use the facilities up there.<p>

James exited the bathroom and took a step to head back out when he noticed the door directly next to the bathroom door. If he didn't remember from Mrs. Lincoln's tour that it was Anna's room the big A on the door made it clear. He tried to ignore it, he really did, but in the end his curiosity won out and he opened the door.

The room was neat, too neat for a normal teenager, but Anna's room was always neat, a hazard of having a military man for a father. He walked into the room and felt as though he was walking back in time. Apart from the coloring of the room it was pretty much the same as it had been back in Minnesota. The doors to her closet held the posters of her favorite bands, they hadn't changed at all, and right above her bed hung a big picture of a sunset. He moved around the room looking at everything that was out in the open. There were her school books stacked on her desk, next to her closed laptop, a tin bank with a picture of a guy playing poker on it, and a mug filled with various pens and pencils. She also had a short dresser where a jewelry box and her make up sat. On her nightstand there were several familiar pictures. One of her and her family on vacation in the Bahamas when she was 12, one of her at her first house as a baby and finally an old picture, of her mom and dad on their wedding day. There were also some newer photos, one of her at her 16th birthday, the tiara on her head giving away the event, another of her and a group of people James didn't know, all holding surfboards, and finally one picture that was both familiar and foreign. The last time he had seen the picture frame it had held a picture of her with him, on a trip to an amusement park. His arms had been around her shoulders and they had both been laughing and smiling. Now though the frame held a picture of her and Dak. They were clearly in her back yard, he had one arm around her and she held his one hand in both of hers, and they were smiling.

James picked up the photo of Anna and Dak and sat down on her bed. It hurt to see the picture in that frame. It was the only frame he knew, he had helped her pick it out. He put the picture down and rubbed his face in his hands, repeating the conversation that was quickly becoming his mantra. When he pulled himself back together he left her room and closed the door, heading back down to join the party.

*******  
>When everyone was back and suitably entertained Kendall decided it was the perfect time to make his move.<p>

"Hey Bennett can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure Kendall." The two boys separated themselves from the group enough so that they could talk without being over heard. "What's up?" Bennett asked?  
>"What was up with that kick Anna gave you?" Kendall asked not wanting to beat around the bush.<p>

"What kick?" Bennett asked.

"My mom asked about Dak and Anna kicked you under the table."

"Oh, that."

"Yeah, what was that about?"

"It's nothing really; we just had an argument last night about him. You know protective older brother came out."

"Is there something wrong between the two of them?" Kendall prodded.  
>"No, well… no." Kendall nodded. "Why are you so interested?" Bennett asked.<br>"It's just, we've known Dak for a while and he never mentioned dating Anna, so I was just curious about how serious they are."

If either boy found the conversation odd they didn't show it, they continued it as if they were on the same page the whole time.

"Yeah, I was wondering that too. I mean, they don't really go out anywhere. They don't want to get caught by the paparazzi, so they only see each other every now and then, really."

"Oh."

"Yeah, you know I bet if the press ever did get a hold of it, the whole thing would end right away." Bennett said.  
>"Yeah that would be a shame." Kendall said.<p>

"Yeah. So is there anything else you wanted to talk about." Bennett asked.  
>"No, that's it, just wanted to make sure no family wars were gonna start."<p>

"Cool."  
>With that they both walked back to the party.<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

On Monday Anna was sitting back in class attempting to take notes. Her notes however, didn't contain very much information; instead they contained a lot of doodles many of them scribbled out. She just couldn't concentrate. Her lack of concentration hadn't gone unnoticed either. As soon as the bell to dismiss class rang, Tracy, her best friend was at her side.

"So how was Hawaii?" she asked.

"It was awesome. You would have loved it. The waves were insane."

"Awesome! I'm so jealous."

"You should be."

"And how was time with Dak?"

"It was crowded." Anna waited until they were seated at a lunch table to elaborate. "So you know how I used to live in Minnesota?"

"Yeah?"

"Well turns out Dak was recording a song with a couple of the guys I used to know there, so we spent a ton of time with them." Anna told her.

"Wow, talk about a small world. You must have been excited." Tracy said.

"Yeah I was, and it was surprisingly cool considering my ex was one of them." Anna continued eating her lunch as if she hadn't just divulged a huge piece of news.

It took Tracy a minute to completely process what Anna had said. "Wait your ex? Your ex from Minnesota? Your ex James?"

Anna waited a beat to see if there would be any more questions before nodding. "Yeah, James."

"Oh God. What did you do?"

"What do you mean, what did I do? We talked, we hung out, everything was fine."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. In fact yesterday James and his friends were over for a barbeque."

Tracy was silent. Tracy was one of the first people Anna had met in California. When Anna had gotten to LA she took up surfing to help her get over her break up and Tracy had been her instructor. When they found out they went to the same school it was a quick friendship. In those early days Anna had confided in Tracy all of the details she couldn't share with her brother. Tracy had helped her immensely in getting over James.

"What?" Anna finally asked after Tracy had been silent for way too long.

"Does Dak know about you and James?"

"Yeah, and he's pretty okay about it. I mean anytime James is around he feels the need to hold onto me like I'm going to run away, but other than that he's pretty good with the whole thing."

"Okay so either you're the luckiest girl in the world, or someone is lying about something."

Anna rolled her eyes, she was almost saved from the continuation of the conversation by the bell ringing, ending the period.

"We are discussing this more later!" Tracy yelled as she headed in the opposite direction down the hall.

**********  
>James was no better when it came to school, all week his attention span was dwindling until he pretty much gave up on trying to pay attention. By Friday instead of making a poor attempt at note taking he had a copy of Tiger Pop in front of him. On the cover was Dak, only now he was sporting a new goatee, an eye patch, a mustache a monocle, and had a small word bubble with some rather unflattering comments coming out of his mouth. As class ended he quickly hid the magazine in his bag and left with the guys.<p>

"So I've been talking with Bennett and there's open skate at the indoor rink tomorrow, we thought we'd go, you guys want to come?" Kendall asked as they all stopped by the apartment.

He was met with a chorus of yeses and quickly texted Bennett that they'd all be there. Kendall and Bennett had been talking a lot over the week and though at first the content of their conversations had been fairly covert, but now they were all but saying exactly what they were both thinking, Anna and Dak had to end.

Kendall was even more sure of his position on this when, while looking for his hockey stick Saturday morning and caught a glimpse of a defaced picture of Dak hidden away. Kendall was determined to find out for sure if Bennett was on his side after that little find. He got his chance later that day at the rink.

Kendall and Bennett had skated off a ways as Logan, Carlos and James fought over the puck down at one end of the rink. "So, you don't really like Dak do you?" Kendall asked.  
>"I like him just fine. I just don't like him dating Anna." Bennett answered honestly.<p>

"Why not?"

"I know they're trying to be low key and everything, but my sister deserves something more than being snuck around like she's some kind of dirty secret." Kendall nodded in understanding. If a guy treated Katie like that Kendall would probably skin him alive. "Why don't you like him?"

"I do, but…" Kendall looked over towards the massive pile up happening with the rest of the guys.

"James not over Anna?"

"He says he is, but I don't know."

"He's seemed pretty over her." Bennett said, stating his own observations. "Never seemed bothered at the studio when they were hanging all over each other."

"Yeah, well maybe it's me then. I just don't like seeing Anna with someone who's not James." Kendall admitted.

"Yeah, well I'm not for sabotaging all of my sister's relationships, but if you're up for it, I wouldn't mind this one ending."

Kendall wasn't really sure if he was comfortable with sabotage, but he knew he wasn't at all comfortable with Anna being with Dak. "What did you have in mind?" he asked.


	11. Chapter 11

Anna was nervous. She always got nervous when she and Dak decided to have real dates. They didn't have many but they always went the same. Dak would make reservations under an assumed name, he would text her the name, she would go to the restaurant where she would be escorted to a back room meant for VIPs and then Dak would meet her there. Once they finished their meal Dak would sneak out she would wait a while and then leave on her own. It wasn't so much the getting there that made her nervous it was the leaving. That was always where the most danger of being caught was.

When Dak finally showed up some of the nervousness abated for a while. At least until a waiter came in a whispered into Dak's ear.

"Dak? What is it?" she asked as she saw his face drop.

"Apparently the paparazzi found out I was here eating with someone." Dak told her looking upset. "Looks like I might have to cut this short to shake them, make them think it was a business meeting or something."

"Oh", Anna's face dropped, "Okay, well when do I get to see you again?"

"I should be able to meet for dinner Thursday." He said checking his schedule on his phone.

"Kay." Anna said.

Dak got up leaving his plate half finished, leaned over and gave Anna a kiss before he left.

Anna sighed and pushed her food around her plate. She hated to admit when Bennett was right, but she was beginning to think he might have a point about her relationship, not going anywhere. It was hard to really feel like she was Dak's girlfriend when they had half dates and had to schedule things weeks in advance. She also was really beginning to resent the fact that they couldn't so much as see a movie together, because she had decided that they shouldn't be seen together. Truthfully it was almost entirely her decision that they were being so quiet. At first Dak had been okay with it all, not wanting the pressure of Hollywood to get in the way, but it seemed like it was anyway.

Anna sighed and put down her fork. Enough time had passed that the paparazzi should have wandered off by now, so she gathered her things and headed outside. As she walked down the street she was confident that once again she had gotten away with another date.

***********  
>That night James jumped over the couch and grabbed the remote out of Carlos' hand.<p>

"hey!" Carlos shouted, but the yell went un heard.  
>"TMZ time!" James said as he took over the TV.<p>

Carlos rolled his eyes but made no move to change back to the program he had already been watching.

_ "Tonight on TMZ, we caught Demi Moore on her way back from filming in Chicago, Lindsey Lohan's back on the party scene and who's the girl leaving a secret rendezvous with Dak Zevon?"_

Though Carlos had only been passively watching the show the second Anna's picture had flashed on the screen he shot forward paying with rapt attention.

James' jaw just about hit the floor. "Oh this is bad." James managed to say.

"What's bad?" Kendall asked walking over from the kitchen.

"Anna was caught with Dak." Carlos said.

Kendall pooled all of his acting skills, "Oh crap. LOGAN COME HERE!"

"What?"

"Anna got caught with Dak, it's on TMZ."

Logan ran over and they watched waiting to see how bad it was.

"_We caught this girl leaving Café Reginald's VIP room, 20 minutes after Dak Zevon. Clearly not old enough to be an agent, this had to have been a date. Sources from inside the restaurant say this isn't the first time these two have been in either. So it looks like Zevon's got a secret lover. "_

"Oh this is bad, this is really bad," Logan said as the people on TV moved onto another celebrity scandal.

"This is going to tear them apart." Kendall said, trying to keep the smile out of his voice.

"I'm gonna text her, see if she saw it." Carlos said going to grab his phone.

Kendall got out his own phone and texted Bennett. _'plan worked.'_


	12. Chapter 12

Anna was stunned, she couldn't believe it, she had gotten caught. It was out there that she was dating Dak Zevon. She didn't even have time to process what this meant before her phone rang. It was a text from Carlos asking if she'd seen the show. She quickly texted back that yes she had.

"Anna I just heard." Bennett said coming into the room. "I'm so sorry."

"It's uhhh…" she didn't get to answer, her phone rang again, this time it was Dak. "It's Dak" she said before answering and walking out into the back yard.

"Anna I'm so sorry. I don't know how they got that picture or who told. I swear I'm calling the restaurant and getting whoever it was that spilled, fired, and then I'll get my PR to say it was some kind of project meeting or something." Dak was rambling. "I'm so so sorry."

Anna couldn't help it, she laughed. "Dak, it's okay."

"It is?" he asked.

"Yeah. I mean we couldn't keep it a secret forever. I think three almost four months is pretty impressive actually."

"So you're okay with it being out? With us being out?"

Anna could tell Dak was trying to keep from sounding too excited. She paused, was she okay with it? Not really, but it was inevitable, so it was either learn to be okay with it or end it, and she didn't want to end it. "Yeah, I mean I think I will be. It'll be strange, but you'll help me through it right?"

"Right." She could hear the smile in his voice. "So then I don't have to deny it?" he asked making sure.

"No, you don't"

"In that case I have to call PR and tell them they don't need to freak out."

"Okay. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye."

Anna wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle this, but it was something she needed to try, after all relationships take compromise.

Anna headed back inside to see Bennett waiting for her.

"So what are you going to do now?" he asked.

"We're going to try being public."

If Anna noticed the shock on her brother's face she didn't say anything. "Are you sure. I mean you really didn't want it public."

"Yeah, well, it's like you've been saying, we couldn't hide forever."

At that moment Bennett hated himself a little bit. "Well if you're sure."

"I am."

"Okay." Bennett went back upstairs to his room and texted Kendall. _'no it didn't'_

"What?" Kendall said to himself after reading Bennett's text. It didn't make sense, Bennett was sure that the moment they were discovered Anna and Dak would break up.

_'What do you mean?'_ Kendall sent to Bennett.

"Did Anna respond?" Kendall asked Carlos, putting his phone back in his pocket.

"Yeah, she said she saw it."

"So is she freaking out?" It was James who asked.

"I don't think so, all she said was 'yeah, I saw it'."

Kendall's phone vibrated and he quickly checked the message. _'We just have to give it time. I don't think it's hit her yet.'_

Kendall was careful not to let out a sigh of relief. "She probably hasn't processed it yet." Kendall said, trying not to make it obvious that he was directing his comment to James.

"Maybe. This really sucks for them though; they were trying so hard to keep it secret." Logan said.  
>"Maybe they just got tired of hiding." James said, " I mean remember when Kendall and Jo had to hide? You guys nearly went crazy."<p>

Kendall went to say something, but James left the room before he could. The remaining three all looked at each other. "I'll get him."

Kendall knocked on the open door to James and Carlos' room before walking in.

James was lounging on his bed flipping through a magazine, he looked up when Kendall knocked. "Are you going to check on me every time we hear or see something about Anna?" he asked, a half smile on his face.

"Probably." Kendall admitted.

"Good to know." James said looking back down at the magazine.

"SO you're good."

James sighed, "yes."

Kendall looked over James' face, he looked okay, he sounded okay. "Okay then."

Kendall turned and left the room. For some reason he still didn't believe James. He really hoped he was doing the right thing.

******  
>James was actually okay. As he flipped through his magazine he felt fine. It was a nice feeling, one he had almost forgotten over the past few weeks. There was no sadness, no nostalgia, no anger, he was finally as okay as he had been claiming to be. Seeing Anna pop up on TMZ had made him feel better. Anna didn't want to be in the spot light, but she was now, for Dak, which meant she was happy, and that was all he had ever wanted, Anna happy.<p> 


	13. Chapter 13

Weeks had gone by, and life had gone on, pretty much as normal. There was school, there was work, and there was fun. Bennett had begun to hear from colleges, several of which were offering him scholarships, the boys were getting ready for the release of their single with Dak and Anna was getting used to her new celebrity status, or at least she was trying.

There hadn't actually been too much paparazzi to deal with at first, which she was thankful for. However she did have to deal with everyone at school. It seemed like it had only taken a matter of minutes for the news that she was dating Dak to spread around the school, and because of it everyone had stared at her or begged her for an autograph or for details about their relationship. Luckily that had mostly died down after a few days.

It had come back a little bit after Anna had her first public appearance as his girlfriend. There was another movie premiere that Dak had gotten tickets to, and this time instead of watching it on TV Anna went with him. Getting ready for that night had been exciting. Dak's publicists had sent her a designer dress to wear, along with shoes and jewelry. She had never worn anything that expensive, and getting to ride in the town car there with Dak had been exciting too. It was the first time they had arrived at their date together. That was where the fun had really ended for her though. They stepped out onto the carpet and Anna was blinded by lights and deafened by screaming fans. Dak had held her hand the whole time, but she had been told to stand just behind Dak the whole time, except for pictures. She had a fake smile plastered to her face, and if it faltered for one moment one of Dak's people would be on her telling her to put it back on. They got inside and Anna and Dak were tossed around from person to person, Dak needing to meet this person or that for future projects, or PR reasons. She hated it, and was just about ready to tell Dak she was leaving when they were ushered in for the movie. Once the lights dimmed, Dak had his arm around her, pulling her close, and for the entire length of the movie, they were just two teenagers watching a movie in a crowded theater.  
>The next time they went out it was to dinner, and again they arrived together, and for once they sat in the main dining room right by the window. Anna had been so happy, until the flash of a bulb had interrupted. It unnerved her to know that people were watching them, but Dak had reached across the table grabbed her hand, and had said some encouraging words, and she tried to forget the man in the bushes taking her picture.<p>

She had hoped that that would be the most that the paparazzi would care about her. That they would only take her picture when she was out with Dak, she quickly found that that wasn't true. It was as if when she wasn't at home or at school, there would be some sort of flash just on the outside of her vision. It was exactly what she hadn't wanted.

"You said we just had to give it some time and we have. It didn't work." Kendall said, sounding agitated. He and Bennett were standing in Bennett's kitchen, the others in the living room playing video games.

"It will." Bennett told him.

"Bennett, we have to do something, it's taking too long."

"Calm down, it will work."  
>"I don't …" Kendall stopped what he was saying as the door opened and two new voices entered.<p>

"Hey, I didn't know you guys would be here." Anna said as she dropped a beach bag onto the floor.

"Yeah we're having a video game tournament." Kendall said, looking from Anna to the girl beside her.

"Cool, oh Tracy this is Kendall, Kendall this is Tracy." Anna introduced them.

"Nice to meet you." Kendall said reaching out and shaking Tracy's hand.

"You too."

"Why I don't introduce you to the others and we'll head up." Anna said, addressing Tracy, and leading her into the living room where the other three were sitting and waiting for Kendall and Bennett to come back from the kitchen. "Hey guys, I want you to meet my friend Tracy."  
>The guys turned and waved. "Tracy this is Logan, James and Carlos." She said pointing each one out.<p>

"Nice to meet you guys," Tracy said.

"We'll be upstairs." Anna said before the two girls left.  
>They waved to Bennett and Kendall who were still in the kitchen.<br>Once they were alone again Kendall tried to restart their conversation. "She doesn't seem to miserable to me." He complained.

"Shh… wait a minute." Bennett said moving over to the wall, and bending down to open the vent. He put his ear to the vent for a minute, before motioning for Kendall to come over. "Listen."

"I told him I wasn't going." It was Anna's voice

"Why not? It's a Johnny Depp movie. You'll probably get to meet Johnny Depp."

"Yeah, but it's just not worth it. I hate the stupid red carpet and I'd have to go to the after party, which means I'll be standing alone in a corner, wishing I was old enough to drink."

Bennett closed the vent and stood up, Kendall right beside him. "Still don't think it's working?" he asked.

"Okay, you win." Kendall said as they grabbed the snacks and drinks they had taken out, and went back into the other room.

*******  
>"So it's that bad?" Tracy asked.<br>"No. Yes. I don't know. I just wish our dates were more, like dates, not work events."

"At least you two are together more often."  
>"True."<br>They went back to hanging out for a while, Tracy looking through a magazine and Anna checking her e-mail. Tracy could only stay quiet for so long, though and eventually her mouth opened.

"Okay this is probably bad timing and an awful thing to say since he's you ex, but, James is really hot."

Anna looked over and saw the 'I'm sorry expression on Tracy's face. She laughed. "Yeah, he is."

"I can't believe you never showed me a picture of him" Tracy said.

"I got rid of all of them, before I got out here." Anna said with a shrug, before changing the subject.


	14. Chapter 14

Kendall knew that he had agreed with Bennett that their plan was working on its own, but it wasn't working fast enough for him. He felt awful for what he was about to do, but he had to do it. He took a deep breath and dialed the phone.

*********  
>She didn't know how they did it. The beach was entirely secluded, and private, and Dak had an even down in San Diego that she was expected to attend, so she really didn't know how the paparazzi had found her surfing in LA with her friends.<p>

She had been so excited to have a day alone with her friends. They had gone out early and been enjoying the sun, sand and surf and then there was a flash. Anna had tried not to lose it, she really did. She tried to ignore it but she couldn't it pissed her off. She had demanded to go home.  
>"Anna! Anna!" Bennett yelled after her as she stormed out of the car and into the house. She stomped up the steps and into her room and slammed the door shut. She flung herself onto her bed and let out a frustrated groan. She lay there staring at the ceiling until she had calmed down enough to dial the phone.<p>

She tried to call Dak, but it went straight to voice mail. She should have expected it. He was booked solid all day. She was going to call Tracy, but she was still at the beach, and probably wouldn't pick up. She had to think for a moment before finally deciding on who she would call, and dialing the number.

James was looking around his room for his towel. He had thrown it somewhere we he got back from the pool yesterday, but couldn't remember where.

He found it under his bed and was just about to leave when he heard a ringing from Carlos' side of the room. Looking over he saw Carlos' phone lighting up on his dresser. Rolling his eyes, James walked over and answered the phone without checking the caller id.  
>"Carlos' phone." He said.<p>

"Uh, yeah is Carlos there?"

"Oh, hey Anna, he's down at the pool."

"James? Hey. Uh could you just, have him call me when he gets a chance?"

He wanted to just say sure and hang up, but there was something in her voice that told him, she wasn't okay, and that this phone call was really important. "Is everything okay?" he finally asked.

"Yeah, fine." Anan said.

"Anna, what's wrong?"

He could practically hear her chewing on her lip as she debated talking to him. "It's nothing really, just… I'm having a really hard time with the whole paparazzi thing." She finally admitted.

James sat down on Carlos' bed. "Yeah, it's not always easy."

"Try not ever easy. I don't know how you guys deal with it every day. I'm already going crazy."

James shrugged, not that Anna could see it. "It doesn't really get any easier, but you just have to go on with your life. The more you try to run, or get them to go away, the more material you give them. If you go about doing boring everyday things, they mostly go away."

"Really?" Anna asked skeptically.

"Yeah, I mean we get a lot of it when we're on tour or an album comes out, but when we're back at home doing homework and lying by the pool, they get bored and just move on, to whoever else has something going on."  
>There was a brief silence. "Thanks James." Anna said.<br>"Any time."  
>"I'll talk to you later, 'kay?"<p>

"'Kay."

James hung up the phone, picked up his towel and walked down to the pool. When he got there he tossed Carlos his phone. "You left this in our room."

"Thanks man, did anyone call?" Carlos asked.

"No one important." James said before taking his spot and assuming the tanning position.

Anna got off the phone with James, feeling much better than she had beforehand. She sat on the edge of the bed for a moment just thinking. She looked over at her nightstand and picked up the framed picture of her and Dak. She turned the frame around and took the back off of it, pulling a photo out. She put the frame and its back down and looked at the picture. The people staring back at her were happy and smiling, but they weren't her and Dak. The girl in the picture was Anna, but the boy was James.  
>She hadn't gotten rid of every picture of James; in fact she hadn't gotten rid of any of them. They all sat in a box at the back of her closet, all but this one. It was her favorite. It had been taken on their third date. They had gone on a double date with Kendall and the girl he had been dating at the time. They had gone to an amusement park. She had gone on her first roller coaster that day. For their one month anniversary James had bought her the frame for the picture, though now it held the picture of her and Dak.<p>

She knew it was wrong but at that moment she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if she were dating James right now instead of Dak.  
>She hadn't been able to get in contact with Dak when she needed to talk to someone, but she hadn't even been looking for James and he was there. But that wasn't Dak's fault. She knew that if he could have, he would have been there, but she also knew what he would have told her, and it wouldn't have made her feel better. This wasn't the first time she'd freaked out about the paparazzi, and Dak had been there before. He always told her to just ignore them; that she'd get used to it. It never made her feel better.<br>She tried not to think it but the thought came anyway. 'Maybe I wouldn't mind it so much if I was still with James.'


	15. Chapter 15

After her talk with James, Anna began to handle the whole paparazzi thing a lot better. It was perfect timing too because for some reason the paparazzi, seemed to be around even more than usual. No matter where Anna and Dak went or what they did, the paparazzi were there. Even with Anna's better handling of things it caused a big strain on their relationship.

While trying to have private dinners, they would change dinner arrangements at the last moment, and end up at a place that one of them wouldn't like, or they'd try booking several places and each get the actual location wrong. They were beginning to see less of each other than they had when they were hiding their relationship.

It didn't help that the paparazzi was also claiming that Anna was cheating on Dak with every guy she was seen talking to, for even a brief moment. Neither one of them paid any attention to the rumors but knowing that people were saying those things was irritating.  
>When they did manage to have some time alone though things were generally pretty good, and all the pressures of Hollywood, went to the background for a while.<p>

"So, you're out of school next month right?" Dak asked as they sat on the couch in Anna's house, just relaxing.

"Yeah, the week before you head out on tour."  
>"I was thinking we could do something special before I leave."<p>

"Like what?" Anna asked.

"Fancy dinner, maybe a show, maybe some dancing." Dak said.

"Sounds fun."

Dak smiled. The peace of the moment was interrupted as Dak's phone rang. He excused himself and went into the other room.

Anna sighed, as she watched Dak's back disappear behind the corner. All in all, things were good, but she couldn't help feeling that they should be better. She wasn't as happy as she had been before when they were hiding, and she couldn't help but think that it was because of more than Hollywood that was bugging her.  
>Dak came back quickly from his phone call, with a smile on his face.<br>"Good news?" Anna asked.

"Yeah. You know how the single I did with Big Time Rush comes out next week?"

"Yeah?"

"Well it's expected to do so well that the guys are going to come on tour as my opening act, so that we can sing it at the concerts!"

"That's great!" Anna said.  
>"Yeah, we're going to get so much press. It's gonna be great for the guys."<p>

Anna nodded in agreement.

"We should all celebrate, I'll call the guys." Dak said, getting up to make the phone call before Anna could answer.  
>The guys had quickly agreed to a celebratory outing that night. Anna hadn't wanted to go, but Dak had insisted that if they did something spontaneous it would give them more time to enjoy it alone, before they were hounded down. That was what had gotten her to come along. It was also wrong.<p>

Again Anna didn't know how they did it. They had all agreed to meet at a restaurant not too far from the Palmwoods, expecting to get there a good hour or two before the paparazzi, but when Anna and Dak got there, the boys were already being surrounded by flashing lights. Dak and Anna went in anyway and sat with the boys.

"How did they get here so fast?" Dak asked just as surprised as everyone else seemed to be.

"I don't know. It's like they've got some kind of GPS system installed in celebrities." Logan said ducking down behind his menu.

"Maybe we should just forget about this and try to celebrate some other time" James said, looking pretty uncomfortable.

"No, we can't let them get to us." Surprisingly, it was Anna who had spoken. "We'll just ignore them. "  
>Everyone seemed to agree, as they all looked over their menus. They tried to be as comfortable as possible, but it was as if the paparazzi had been told something juicy was going to happen. They just wouldn't go away. At one point Anna got up and went to the bathroom just for some peace.<p>

When she came back the guys were laughing and talking. Despite all the chaos around them, she smiled, they could all still be so normal. She took her seat next to Dak, and continued eating her meal.  
>A few minutes later, the laughter and conversation was interrupted. Dak felt a tickle on his ear. Then it began to itch. The itchy spot started to grow and soon enough Carlos was doing a spit take.<br>"Dude your ear!" he yelled.

"What?" Dak asked, still scratching his ear.

"Oh my God Dak, did you eat asparagus?" Anna asked, sounding panicked.

"No, why?" Dak picked up his spoon to try and see his ear. Anna quickly pulled out a mirror from her purse. "Oh my God!" His ear was at least twice the size it normally was and his neck was breaking out in hives. The photographers began snapping pictures like crazy.

"We've got to get you to a hospital!" Anna said.

Kendall whipped out his phone, and called his mom, only after Dak refused to let anyone call an ambulance. Mrs. Knight was there in a matter of minutes and ushered Dak into her car, pushing through the paparazzi. Anna got in the back seat, and they raced off to the hospital.


	16. Chapter 16

The boys had gone back to the Palmwoods on Mrs. Knight's orders. When they got back to their apartment Camille was there watching Katie.

"What happened? Your mom said there was an emergency." Camille asked when they walked through the door.

"Dak, had some kind of allergic reaction to something, he had to go to the hospital." Logan told her.

"Oh God is he going to be okay?" she asked.

"Yeah he'll be fine."

They all hung around the apartment for a while, just waiting for the phone to ring. They didn't have to wait long.

"Hello?" James asked as he quickly picked up the phone. "Really?...Okay…Yeah…That's great…Thanks Anna… yeah…bye."

"Well?" They all yelled as James hung up.

"He's fine. He's allergic to asparagus and they guess some of it got mixed up in his food. The doctors gave him a shot and some antihistamines, he'll be right as rain in a few hours."

"That's great." Camille said, everyone nodding around her. Everyone, except Kendall, who after hearing that Dak was okay left for his room.

James saw him leave and went after him as soon as everyone else had dispersed throughout the apartment. "Kendall?" he asked, walking in and seeing Kendall face down on his bed.

Kendall sat up hearing James come in.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

"I am an awful person."

"No you're not." James told him.

"Yes I am."

"No, you're not. What's bringing this on?" James waited for an answer but Kendall just sat there staring at his hands. Suddenly James had an awful thought. "You didn't give Dak the asparagus did you?"

"No!" Kendall said immediately. He may have been plotting to destroy Dak and Anna's relationship but he wouldn't try to poison him, besides, he didn't even know Dak had any allergies.

"Then what are you beating yourself up for?" James asked.

"They are gonna play those pictures of Dak on TV for weeks, and it's my fault." Kendall said looking up at James who had come and sat next to him on the bed. "It's going to be humiliating."

"Yeah, it'll be a little embarrassing, but he'll get over it, and it's not your fault. The paparazzi has been following him and Anna around for weeks."

"Yeah, because of me."

"What are you talking about?"

"I've been tipping the paparazzi off." Kendall admitted.

"What?"  
>"Bennett tells me what Anna and Dak are up to, and I call the tabloids and let them know where they're going. Bennett pulled out a couple of weeks ago, but when he lets it slip what Anna's up to I still call them. Bennett and I are the reason Anna and Dak had to go public, and I called them again tonight, right after Dak called." Kendall felt awful. He knew he shouldn't have done any of it, and it had been eating away at him for weeks.<p>

"Why would you do that?" James asked, quietly.

"Bennett didn't like how they were sneaking around. Didn't like that Dak was hiding Anna."

"I didn't ask why Bennett did it. I asked why you did." This time James sounded angry.

"I just thought that if they went public and had to deal with the fame, they'd break up and then maybe you and Anna could…"

"Could what?" James was angry. Angrier than he had ever been before. "They would break up and Anna and I could what? If she broke up with him because of fame, what makes you think she'd want to be with another celebrity afterwards? I told you why we broke up and you were going to use that reason, to break my heart again?" James was screaming so loudly that the others were staring at the door to Kendall and Logan's room in terror.

"No, James, I thought since she was with Dak maybe she was okay with the celebrity thing, and that it would be better for you guys."

James was quiet but he was still fuming. "You're right she is okay with the celebrity thing, as long as it's not me!" He had yelled it, not as loudly as before, but he had still yelled it. James turned away from Kendall and stormed out of the apartment.

The entire apartment was silent, no one knowing quiet what to do. Kendall hadn't come out of his room, and as time ticked by those left didn't think he would.

"You guys check on Kendall, I'll get James." Camille said getting up from the couch and heading out the door.

James wasn't hard to find. He was down at the pool, sitting on a lounge chair, staring angrily into the water. It was late and there was no one else around. Camille slowly walked towards him. As she got closer to James he lifted his head, and Camille saw the reason he had stormed out. He was angry, yes, but more than that he was hurt. She could see the tears threatening to spill out, and the trail from where one or two had already managed to escape. She sat next to him in silence, waiting for him to say something.

"He had no right." James said after a while.

"Who?" Camille asked.

"Kendall." There was silence for a while longer. Camille wasn't going to say anything, not until James did, she didn't want to push him. "I was fine. I was okay with it." There was silence again. "Yes I missed her, and I may have wanted to punch Dak every time he kissed her, but that's normal when you see an ex you still care about."

"You still care about Anna?" Camille had thought she said something wrong when James' head snapped toward her.

"Of course I care about her. I never stopped caring about her. The only reason we broke up was because of the fact that I wanted to be a stupid pop star." He sounded calmer though still angry, but his anger had switched targets from Kendall to himself. "You know the last thing she ever said to me before she said goodbye, was that if I didn't make it in Hollywood, that people were idiots and that I had better come find her, but I wasn't allowed to give up until there was nothing left to try." James went silent again.

"But you did make it" Camille pointed out.

"Yeah. The second we got out here, I knew we were over for good. But then she showed up with Dak and…"

"And he got to be famous and have her."

Camille hadn't noticed the tears starting to fall from James' eyes until he looked up again.

"It feels like my heart is breaking into a million pieces. It wasn't that she didn't want to be famous. It was that she didn't want me." With the last statement James broke. Every bit of pain he had pushed to the side in the past few months came crashing in like tiny shards of glass slicing his entire body. He began sobbing uncontrollably.

Camille moved fast. She hugged James in close and shushed him, holding him as he cried into her shoulder. "Oh James, it'll be okay." She said moving to block him from view of the passersby in the lobby and giving him a kiss on the temple.

Mrs. Knight had come home to the chaos and had quickly learned what happened and taken over Kendall duty. For now she would comfort him, his punishment would come later. While she had him she ordered Carlos to go find James and Camille. Carlos had been more than happy to. He was just as worried about James as everyone else.

He guessed that James would have gone to the pool so he took the elevator down to the lobby. He was surprised to see Anna there.

"Anna?"

Her head whipped around a surprised look on her face. "Hey Carlos."

"What are you doing here?"

"I just….wanted to make sure you all knew Dak's okay." She said. She sounded funny, and looked almost as if she was going to throw up.

"Yeah, James relayed the message." Carlos told her, "Anna are you…?"

"Good. I'll see you around then." Anna said before turning on her heel and leaving.

"Anna? Anna!" Carlos yelled after her but she didn't seem to hear him.

Confused, Carlos turned his attention back to the pool, where he saw Camille and James at the other end of the pool. Slowly he made his way out to them.


	17. Chapter 17

Dak had been immediately admitted at the hospital, and the doctors had quickly given him everything he needed, and told them he would be fine. Anna had left Mrs. Knight and Dak in his room to go call the guys and let them know that Dak was okay. When she got back to the room Mrs. Knight wasn't there.

"Where's Mrs. Knight?" Anna asked.

"I asked her to wait outside for a bit." Dak said.

"What for?"

"We need to talk."  
>Those words had never ever been good for anyone. They were the words her parents used every time they moved. They were the words she had said to James after her parents had said them to her back in Minnesota. Those words never led to good things.<p>

"What is it?"

"I know you gave me the asparagus."

Anna's eyes went wide, "What? I …"

"It's okay." Dak said.

Anna stared at him for a minute. "How did you know?"

"I saw you slip it on my plate when you got back from the bathroom." He admitted.

"Then why did you eat it?" she asked sitting next to him on the bed.

"I figured it would give people something else to talk about other than our break up."

Anna felt her heart sink. "Our break up?"

"I'm not blind Anna. You haven't been happy for a while now. Not since James."

"Dak I…"

"No," Dak interrupted, "just let me finish, it's the least you can do after poisoning me."

"It's not like you're deathly allergic" Anna mumbled but otherwise stayed silent.

"I really care about you, and I know you care about me, but I catch you looking at him like you'd rather it was his arm around you, and I know you haven't been mixing up where we have reservations by accident. I know you don't like being followed by the paparazzi, but I also know that it doesn't bother you as much as you make it seem. You're not happy with me, you're not over James, and if the looks he gives you are anything to go by, he's not over you either, and if there is any chance the two of you can be happy again I don't want to stand in the way. Especially if it puts my health in jeopardy." He said the last part with a smile, letting her know that it was okay.

"Despite what you may think, I really didn't want to hurt you. But you're right. I'm not over James."  
>"I know." Dak leaned forward and took one last kiss from Anna. "Look my mom's coming by to take me home, so why don't you go with Mrs. Knight back to the Palmwoods, and get your man." Dak told her.<p>

"Tonight? Don't I need to cry over you first?" she asked.

"Nah, it'll be super romantic if it happens tonight. Leaving me for the love of your life!"

Anna smiled, hugged him and started to leave when he called out to her. "Anna, just try to keep the PDA to a minimum when you visit on tour?"

"I promise." Anna told him before finding Mrs. Knight. She didn't exactly tell Mrs. Knight why she wanted to go back to the Palmwoods, but Mrs. Knight had given her a ride anyway.  
>Once they got to the Palmwoods, what Anna was about to do hit her and she needed a moment. She had made an excuse for Mrs. Knight to leave her in the lobby so that she could pull herself together.<br>She was going through everything she wanted to say to James, and pacing in the lobby when she looked up and through the glass doors that led to the pool. She stopped in her tracks and her breath stopped. James was at the other end of the pool, and he wasn't alone.  
>She watched as the girl James was with kissed him. It was dark and she couldn't tell exactly where the kiss fell, but she could tell it was on his face. She stared as the two embraced. She felt like an idiot. She had never even once thought about James being with another girl, but the way they were intertwined, this girl was clearly not just some random girl. James knew her, and knew her well.<br>This was why James had been so okay with her and Dak dating. He had a girlfriend of his own.  
>Anna was brought out of her trance by someone calling her name. It was Carlos.<br>"Hey Carlos" she said out of habit.  
>"What are you doing here?"<p>

She started to give him the same excuse that she had given Mrs. Knight, "I just…" She looked back through the doors and saw the girl lift James' head and caress his cheek. Anna turned her head back to Carlos. "…wanted to make sure you all knew Dak's okay." She said, feeling sick to her stomach.

"Yeah, James relayed the message." Carlos told her, "Anna are you…?"  
>Hearing his name cause a sharp pain in her chest. "Good. I'll see you around then."<p>

She walked out without another word, she was either going to puke or cry. She didn't know why she thought it would be so easy, that she could just decide she wanted James and she could have him. She had moved on once before, who said he couldn't. She stopped moving and saw she was in the park. She found the nearest bench and texted Bennett to come pick her up.

She put her head in her hands and just sat there breathing. She started going over the last conversation she had with James back in Minnesota, and hating herself for every word she had said.

_They were sitting on the swings on the playground at the local elementary school, swinging back and forth gently, holding hands tightly._

"_If that's really how you feel then, I'm sure my mom will want to expand the business, and she'll need someone to run it."_

"_What are you talking about?" Anna looked over at James._

"_I'm talking about going into the family business. This way we can stay together, hell we can even go to the same college."_

"_What about taking Hollywood by storm? Magazine covers, and being an inspiration to people everywhere?"_

"_Well we'll need models for our products. I can do that."_

"_But you love preforming."_

"_But I love you more. Being famous wouldn't mean anything without you."_

_Anna stopped their movement._

" _James you're an amazing singer, and you've wanted to be one much longer than you've known me. I'm not going to let you give it up for me."_

"_I'm not giving it up for you. There's no guarantee I'd make it, and I'd rather have the guarantee that I'd have you than have no guarantee at all."_

"_James, you're going to make it, if you don't then everyone in the music industry is an idiot. And if they are all idiots, then there's nothing that can keep me away, so you had better come find me, but not until you've made sure that every single one of them has heard you."_

"_I don't want to let you go." She could hear the strain in his voice._

"_You don't have a choice."_

"Anna?" It was Bennett's voice. She looked up tears in her eyes. "Anna. What's..?"

She ran to him and he wrapped his arms around her. "Take me home Bennett."

Bennett hugged her close and started walking them to his car.


	18. Chapter 18

Anna had cried all the way home, and had cried herself to sleep when they got home. Bennett was worried. He had never seen Anna this upset. Once he was sure Anna was off to sleep, he texted Kendall.

'What happened?'

'Dak, had an allergic reaction, had to go to the hospital.' Kendall texted back.

Bennett looked back at Anna's door. So that's why she was so upset, Dak was in the hospital. He suddenly felt really bad about what he had done. Apparently Dak meant more to Anna then he thought.

*************  
>The next morning Anna woke up feeling awful. Like she'd been hit by ton of bricks. Her eyes felt puffy and her throat felt sore. It took her a moment but she remembered why. She felt so stupid. She couldn't believe how she had broken down just because James had a girlfriend. God, Bennett probably thought something awful had happened. She got out of bed and walked downstairs.<p>

"Aw man. I was going to bring you breakfast in bed." Bennett said as he saw Anna come down the stairs.

"What for?" Anna asked.

"You had a hard night, figured you could use a pick-me-up." He said putting the breakfast he had made, down on the table instead.

"Yeah, sorry about that." She said, "and thanks for picking me up."

"No problem. I texted Kendall, and he told me what happened."

Anna's head snapped up, "He did?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry to hear about Dak."

"He knows about Dak?" Anna didn't think Kendall and Dak were close enough to talk about them breaking up, although Dak could have been trying to help Anna get James. Too bad he didn't need to bother.

"Yeah, you guys were all having dinner together weren't you?"

"Yeah, but we didn't break up until after that."  
>Bennett nearly dropped the glass in his hand. "What do you mean break up?"<p>

"Dak and I broke up last night. That's what you were talking about right?"

"I was talking about Dak being in the hospital."

"Oh. No Dak's fine, it was just an allergic reaction."  
>"Wait, so that's why you were crying, because you two broke up?"<p>

Anna opened her mouth to say that no she wasn't crying because of her break up, that she was crying because James had a girlfriend, but it sounded so stupid, so instead she settled for, "Yeah."

"Oh Ann I'm so sorry." Bennett walked over to Anna and hugged her, and she hugged him back, she still needed the comfort.

Breakfast in 2J at the Palmwoods was a silent affair. Kendall was pushing his food around his plate, trying not to look up at James who sat across from him. Kendall had fallen into a rough sleep long before James had come home the night before.  
>James sighed and Kendall looked up. "Listen Kendall, I'm sorry."<p>

"You're sorry? I'm the one who was messing with people's lives."

"Yeah, but your heart was in the right place."  
>"It still wasn't right." Kendall looked back to his plate and then back up at James. "So are we okay?"<p>

"Yeah, we're good."  
>They continued to eat their breakfast in silence until the others woke and joined them.<p>

**************  
>Carlos was keeping a close eye on James. James had made Carlos and Camille swear not to tell the others about his outburst the night before. It had hit James hard that Anna was finally completely out of his reach, and he hadn't stopped crying until the early hours of the morning. Once he had started he had been unable to stop. It was as if they were breaking up all over again. James had felt his heart ripping and tearing until he couldn't take the pain anymore and had finally shut down, and passed out.<br>Seeing his friend so broken had hurt Carlos and had made him far more observant of everything James did. For instance the way James pushed his cereal around in his bowl and brought an empty spoon to his lips every now and then. He wasn't eating. He wasn't looking at anyone and it was clear he hadn't brushed his hair yet. He was still upset. Carlos didn't blame him. James loved Anna and having to give her up wasn't something he would ever be ready to do, but James was strong, and if he had to do it, he would, no matter how much it hurt. Carlos would just be sure to be there to cushion the blow.


	19. Chapter 19

Dak had been right about his incident covering up their break up. It seemed the press hadn't even noticed his companion's absence.

Anna threw the remote at the TV luckily having it fall just short of the appliance. "He's not deathly allergic to the damned vegetable!" she yelled at the screen as another program reported on Dak Zevon's near death experience.  
>She was sitting on the couch in her pajamas ignoring her ringing phone and shoveling handfuls of popcorn into her mouth. She had taken up the position as soon as she got home from school and eight hours later hadn't moved except to get the popcorn.<br>"Why do you torture yourself?" Bennett asked as he went and picked up the remote, moving to sit next to her.

"Because I'm a masochist." She said, still listening to the woman on the screen talk about her ex.  
>Bennett moved and pulled Anna into his side , letting his little sister curl up into his side.<br>The woman on the screen stopped talking about Dak and the deadly asparagus to mention the new album that Dak would be putting out the next day and its much awaited collaborative single. As the woman talked about the band that Dak had collaborated with a picture of Big Time Rush took over the screen Anna curled further into Bennett's side. She still hadn't told Bennett the real reason she had been crying that night in the park, she still felt like an idiot because of it.  
>"Have you talked to the guys recently?" Anna couldn't stop herself from asking.<p>

"I've called a few times but they've been busy getting ready for the release." He told her still watching the screen.

Anna nodded, and turned back to the screen. The woman had moved on to a new celebrity.

"I'm gonna go to bed" Anna said, pulling out from under Bennett's arm.

Anna walked up stairs to her room and lay down on her bed. It didn't take long for her to sit back up. She looked over at her night stand and stared at the picture of her and Dak. She opened the back and took out the picture, she got up and put it in the drawer, then put the frame back. She stared at it. It was empty. She had moved the picture of her and James days ago. It now sat in a box at the bottom of her closet along with everything else she had hid after their break up.

She picked up the frame from her table and moved to the closet. She dug the box out from under a pile of clothes and opened it up. She had intended on simply putting the frame in the box and letting that be that, but that stupid picture was sitting there smiling up at her. She couldn't leave it there, so she picked it up and put it back into its frame. She went to put it back but another picture caught her eye and she pulled it out, this one was of James, Bennett and Logan celebrating after winning a game. Soon enough Anna found herself sitting in front of her closet going over every picture and memento in the box. Along with a stack of pictures there was a necklace and a pair of earrings he had given her for her birthday, a small stuffed animal he had won for her at a carnival and a paper crown he had gotten her as a joke at a fast food restaurant they had gone to late one night. When she had finally gone through everything she put it back in the box, and went back to her bed. After laying, unable to sleep for a little while, she got back up, went back to the closet pulled out the stuffed animal and went back to bed cuddling it close to her.

For once James wasn't looking forward to a performance. For the premiere of Dak's album and their new song Dak's people had decided to have a big launch party where the boys would all preform together. They had spent just about every hour of every day getting ready for it, and each one had been hell for James, having to be there with Dak, though thankfully the other boy seemed to leave him be for the most part. Tonight though it would be worse, because tonight was the party and not only would Dak be there but he would be there with Anna, smiling laughing being happy, and James would have to pretend he was happy too.

He fixed his hair haphazardly, not really caring but needing to put on a good show, and walked out of the bathroom.

"Ready to go guys?" James asked as cheerily as he could manage.

"Yup."

"Let's go"

They all headed out into the waiting limo that had been sent for them.

"You going to be okay?" Carlos whispered into James' ear.

"Yeah, I will be." James told him.  
>Carlos nodded but put a comforting hand on James' shoulder all the same as they tried to enjoy the ride to the party.<p> 


End file.
